corrine wrote:Lifting weights even helps with easing arthritis. The stronger we are, the less we stress our joints.

corrine

Very true: a little pain for a lot of gain. Weight lifting (to "lactate burn") releases growth and repair hormones (and I find it enhances mindfulness of body).

It is the anandamides.

They're in the mix, yes (along with dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline, endorphins, etc...), but I had interleukin-6 (the "rot and decay" cluster of hormones that remain at low and steady levels in our blood when we sit around too much) and interleukin-10 (the "repair and growth" cluster of hormones triggered by elevating interleukin-6 in our blood through micro-traumatizing ourselves with aerobics and strengthening) in mind.

Digity wrote:What are your thoughts on weightlifting? Do you think it's bad since it can promote vanity and increase one's ego? It also involves consuming lots of food to add mass. In the past, I took up weightlifting in an attempt to improve my physique and confidence. Although, after six months of doing it I got tired of it. I wasn't overly impressed with my early results and hated focusing so much on my outer appearance.

I signed up for a gym today and plan to do cardio and weightlifting just so I can maintain my general health. Although, I wonder if after a while I'll want to start lifting seriously again and whether that's a good thing.

If you want to so something for your overall health that's something the Buddha advocated.

awimming is probably the most highly recommended sport, as it will train the whole body and all muscles, plus the endurance, and so it's exellent cardiac training, whilst sparing the joints a lot more than jogging.

Bicycling is also more recommendable than jogging, for said reasons, as being less stress on the joints and also excellent cardiac training.

Swimming, however, will also train the upper body, which is probably why you took up weightlifting to begin with.

Now that you've signed up in a gym, you should not only focus in broad shoulders and bioceps but work out the whole body, back muscles, six pack and legs as well.

I am sure they can develop a program for you.

If you don't mind an honest word, -I can't think of anything more dull than working out with machines and weights.

I'd always prefer swimming or ball games, it's so satisfying to play with others in a team, and so much fun to play "dolphin"...!

Working out with weights does not have to be dull. Personally, when I have two heavy dumbells over my head in an incline press, I'm very focused. You will be too. Just make the weight heavy enough. If you do that I'm certain it will focus your mind!

alan wrote:Working out with weights does not have to be dull. Personally, when I have two heavy dumbells over my head in an incline press, I'm very focused. You will be too. Just make the weight heavy enough. If you do that I'm certain it will focus your mind!

Weightlifting is actually a good time to practice mindfulness. I did it with my pull-ups today and noticed I was actually able to do more than I expected when I was focused and mindful.

alan wrote:Working out with weights does not have to be dull. Personally, when I have two heavy dumbells over my head in an incline press, I'm very focused. You will be too. Just make the weight heavy enough. If you do that I'm certain it will focus your mind!

Yes, when I snatch overhead 71 pound Kettlebell with one hand I have to be mindful and focused!

"Life is a struggle. Life will throw curveballs at you, it will humble you, it will attempt to break you down. And just when you think things are starting to look up, life will smack you back down with ruthless indifference..."

Annapurna wrote:If you don't mind an honest word, -I can't think of anything more dull than working out with machines and weights.

And I am addicted to lifting them. The pump is great mood elevator and pain killer - it is like a legal drug. Too bad I can't workout every day twice a day. Also too bad that occasionally my skin rips to blood belowe my fingers...

"Life is a struggle. Life will throw curveballs at you, it will humble you, it will attempt to break you down. And just when you think things are starting to look up, life will smack you back down with ruthless indifference..."

I just walk, and quite alot...and can't afford much else. But it seems to be enough, because if I need to make a run for a train approaching the station, my body still has what it takes for a burst of speed, running down the street.

Imho, so long as the body is fit enough to undertake our given occupation properly, and is able to sit for a decent amount of time in meditation posture without harming knees or back, what more is needed? Why worry too much about something that could, in the realms of possibility, shut down and stop working any day or hour, and in any case one day, definitely will?

manas wrote:Imho, so long as the body is fit enough to undertake our given occupation properly, and is able to sit for a decent amount of time in meditation posture without harming knees or back, what more is needed?

same reason we do maintenance on our cars beyond its ability to start and drive back and forth to work. the body really needs some sort of resistance exercise to function optimally. disease is reduced, pain and suffering are reduced, the brightness of the mind is increased.

in non western countries people do a lot more physical labor in daily life... most of us do nothing physical outside the gym, so the gym becomes a necessity to function normally.

"It's easy for us to connect with what's wrong with us... and not so easy to feel into, or to allow us, to connect with what's right and what's good in us."

Digity wrote:What are your thoughts on weightlifting? Do you think it's bad since it can promote vanity and increase one's ego?

Since you aren't a monastic, you are living a lay life and many, many other things can do that to you as well. I wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy.

In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.

manas wrote:Imho, so long as the body is fit enough to undertake our given occupation properly, and is able to sit for a decent amount of time in meditation posture without harming knees or back, what more is needed?

same reason we do maintenance on our cars beyond its ability to start and drive back and forth to work. the body really needs some sort of resistance exercise to function optimally. disease is reduced, pain and suffering are reduced, the brightness of the mind is increased.

in non western countries people do a lot more physical labor in daily life... most of us do nothing physical outside the gym, so the gym becomes a necessity to function normally.

I see your point, marc. Yes, the average person in the richer, industrialised world, is overly sedentary as compared with his or her ancestors.

for westerners that meditate on the floor and aren't that flexible, doing heavy squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, shoulder presses, etc. is sketchy. there are alternatives to these things that are good enough. you have to take care of your discs and stretch enough the right way, etc. if you have a gaining idea in lifting weights, then it might problematize things as a practitioner. however, for example, if you are intimate and present and mindful while becoming weaker and more vulnerable with every rep and still continuing through it, then it could become a spiritual practice. i just know it's a way to keep me somewhat grounded, get rid of stress, get energy, etc. it's also a huge timesuck to get into it, especially if you're just trying to impress yourself.

Just keep breathing in and out like this. Don't be interested in anything else. It doesn't matter even if someone is standing on their head with their ass in the air. Don't pay it any attention. Just stay with the in-breath and the out-breath. Concentrate your awareness on the breath. Just keep doing it. http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Just_Do_It_1_2.php

Everyone past the age of 40 or so is getting weaker every day. You can choose to accept that, and make a joke about it, if you like. Or you can choose the skillful option, which is to challenge your body to keep growing. Lifting weights is the best way to do that.

If you admire your body in the mirror just note what feeling arises, and the exact moment that it passes away, that it is impermanent and then even attachment to body could become a learning process

When this concentration is thus developed, thus well developed by you, then wherever you go, you will go in comfort. Wherever you stand, you will stand in comfort. Wherever you sit, you will sit in comfort. Wherever you lie down, you will lie down in comfort.

I'm actually a bit intrigued by the assumption by some that if one engages in weight lifting or attends the gym, then one is necessarily a narcissist.

I have returned to the gym after a long hiatus in a bid to return some level of physical fitness and health. And I think that is the same for many people who attend - its a convenient vehicle for them to maintain the only body they've got in this life.

My observation is that at least some people at the gym look in the mirrror, not to relish the image of their own body (or others), but to ensure correct physical technique.kind regards,

Ben

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.

Look into Cross-fit. We do a lot of weight stuff but also a lot of cardio, flexibility, coordination and other work. In about 2 months, 2x a week I have gotten a lot stronger and fitter. I can now do pull-ups, chin-ups and a lot more push-ups than before.

Kamran wrote:If you admire your body in the mirror just note what feeling arises, and the exact moment that it passes away, that it is impermanent and then even attachment to body could become a learning process

Good idea. I've got into a bad habit to flex in front of a mirror before going to post workout shower... And when I see myself in a mirror I sometimes flex my chest... Attachement...

"Life is a struggle. Life will throw curveballs at you, it will humble you, it will attempt to break you down. And just when you think things are starting to look up, life will smack you back down with ruthless indifference..."

Ben wrote:I'm actually a bit intrigued by the assumption by some that if one engages in weight lifting or attends the gym, then one is necessarily a narcissist.

I have returned to the gym after a long hiatus in a bid to return some level of physical fitness and health. And I think that is the same for many people who attend - its a convenient vehicle for them to maintain the only body they've got in this life.

My observation is that at least some people at the gym look in the mirrror, not to relish the image of their own body (or others), but to ensure correct physical technique.kind regards,

Ben

A bigger problem, for me anyway, is when people think I'm looking at them/staring at them/checking them out, etc.... because they're in my posture check zone. One time, the middle-aged black woman on the elliptical next to me said something like, "Why do you keep looking at me?" I joked with her and said, "Oh I'm just really vain. I'm looking at myself." She laughed. I told her about my need to posture check. Since I've scoliosis and spinal arthritis I constantly look in the mirror at the gym to check my posture (I'm currently using Esther Gokhale's method). I rarely look in the mirror (at home or in the gym) and think vain thoughts, even when according to other people I'm "looking good" (my thoughts about myself are usually negative, especially regarding my physique and ablities.). And most of the people that frequent my gym aren't exactly natural beauties: the elderly, the obese, and, yes, "ugly" ones. Furthermore, if you're there to work out, you're probably going to sweat and stink and so are others which can really kill vanity. In fact, I find the gym a great place to contemplate foulness of the body. It might just be the gym I go to, but I rarely see people look in the mirror for vanity purposes. There's mirrors on all the walls, but they didn't put them there for narcissists. If you're working out, getting the right form is crucial. If you're vain about it, you're the exception. Plus, I think you can dinstinguish between vanity and a healthy self-image, the latter of which you can use to your advantage as a motivator. The better you look the more likely you are to stay in shape.